CLAREMORE, Okla. – Darian Jackson made a layup off of a dish from Samariah Thompson with 8.2 second remaining to give the Rogers State Women's Basketball team a 70-68 victory over Southwest Baptist University Wednesday evening at the Claremore Expo Center.
 
At the end of the first half the Hillcats (2-3) were down by seven points to the Bearcats (2-2). However, the Hillcats came out in the third quarter and outscored the visitors 21-13 to take a 49-48 lead into the final quarter.
 
Hillcats would extend their lead to as much as 13 points with under 4 minutes left in the game.
 
The Bearcats clawed their way back from the deficit to tie the game with 36 seconds left, using a 13-0 run.
 
After a timeout, the Hillcats ran a set play to Thompson who drove the lane and found Jackson for a layup under the basket to give the Hillcats the lead. The Bearcats made a last-ditch effort to force overtime, but missed a pair of layups in the final seconds.
 
The Hillcats shot 39 percent from the field and just 30 percent from three-point range in the game. However, the Hillcats held Southwest Baptist to 38 percent shooting and just 21 percent from behind the arc in a defensive battle.
 
Junior Katrina Christian would lead the Hillcats and all scorers in the game with a career high 17 points. Christian would also have 3 rebounds.
 
Jackson would finish with 16 points and 6 rebounds to finish the game.
 
Freshman Bailey Kleiwer fell one rebound shy of her first career double-double, finishing with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Kliewer led the team on the glass for the night. Kleiwer was also perfect from the free-throw line going 4-4 for the night.
 
The Hillcats had just seven free-throw attempts in the game, sinking five of them. Southwest Baptist was 10 for 14 from the stripe.
 
Rogers State outrebounded Southwest Baptist 48-46 in the contest.
 
Both teams finished with 15 turnovers, as Rogers State finished with six steals and the Bearcats had four steals. Vanessa Gajdosova had three of the six for the Hillcats to go along with five points and eight rebounds.
 
The Hillcats bench played a big part in the win as 42 points came from players off the bench.
 
Rogers State also converted 16 fast break points to just six from the visitors and had 15 points on second-chance opportunities, compared to 12 from the Bearcats.
 
The Hillcats will face off against Missouri Southern at the Claremore Expo Center on Saturday. Rogers State faces the MIAA foe in a non-conference battle with the tip-off set for 2 p.m.